Steam engine



Sept. 1, 1931. J n-Us 1,821,532

STEAM ENGINE Filed Aug. 22, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet l N NTOR 02 AZ! a7 2ATTORNEYS Sept-1, 1931. H. J. 'rrrus s rsu ENGINE Filed Aug. 22, 1927 3Sheets-Sheet 2 H. J. TITUS STEAM ENGINE Filed Aug. 22, 1927 Sept. 1,1931.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3- INVE TOR a BY 1 j ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 1, 1931UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HUBERT J. TITUS, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR TO FRANKLIN RAILWAY SUPPLY COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF DELAWARE STEAM ENGINE Application filed August 22, 1927.Serial No. 214,486.

This invention relates to steam enginesespecially reciprocatingenginesand to the means for starting them. The invention is particularlyapplicable to limited cutofl:' locomotives and it will be described asso ap-' plied.

The cut-oti' may be limited to a certain extent say to about 70% maximumin full gear without resorting to means for giving increased power atstarting, but at maximum cut-offs of less than 70%, such means should beemployed. An auxiliary port arrangement for admitting steam to thecylinder has been proposed for this purpose.

The starting arrangement, in general, should, among other things,preferably be one in which there is neither preadmission of steam whilethe piston is still on compression. as this would produce a negativeturning movement working against the opposite cylinder of thelocomotive, nor wastage of live steam to the exhaust; and in which theadmission port is sufiiciently large to secure eflective startingeffort. The arrangement should also be simple and capable of applicationto standard engine construction, with little, if any, change. i

A starting arrangement for obtaining these and other advantages is fullydescribed in copending application of Titus and Wallis,

Serial No. 209.212. filed July 29, 1927.

It is one of the primary objects of the present invention to obtain suchadvantages in an improved manner. I

Another object of the invention is to take more effective advantage ofstandard features of engine construction.

A further object is to make it possible to clean the porting with easeand=without the necessity of disturbing the engine parts.

Still another object is to provide a starting means which can be availedof to more effectively supply lubricant to the cylinders when drifting.j

How the foregoing, together ,with Such other objects and advantages asmay hereinafter appear are obtained. will be clear from the followingdescription considered in conncction with the accompanying drawings,

which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which-Fig. 1 is a vertical longitudinal section through a typical locomotivevalve chest and cylinder casting with the piston just starting a stroketo the right.

Fig. 2 is a similar view illustrating cut-off of the main port atapproximately 40% of the piston stroke.

Fig. 3 is a similar view with the piston and valve farther advanced inthe stroke, the auxiliary port being cut off at 70% of the stroke.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the valve in a position in which it hasjust closed the exhaust port, that is to say, the piston is at the pointof compression.

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the valve on line with the auxiliaryport on the right just ready to pass steam through the auxiliary steamsupply passage, which passage. however, is controlled by the pistonwhich is still on compression.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line 6-6 of'Fig. 4 to better illustratethe portin and passage arrangement for starting, and

Figs. 7 and 8 are partial views illustrating a modification, Fig. 8being taken as indigated by the line 88 in Fig. 7.

Referring now to the drawings, it will be seen that I have illustrated atypical con struction of locomotive valve chest 7, cylinder 8 and piston9, the piston being enlarged at the bottom, as indicated at 9a. Thevalve chest is rovided with the usual liners or bushings Ea. Steamenters the valve chest at 10 and can enter one end or the other of acylinder through the main ports or passages 11, subject, of course, tothe control of the piston valve 12 which has the enlar ed ends 13 forcontrolling the passages 11. Xhaust takes place at the ends 14 of thevalve chest. The bushings 7 a are'provided with the usual ports 11acommunicating with the passages -11.

With the piston just starting a stroke to the right, as shown in Fig. 1,the left hand ports 11a are admitting steam to the left hand end of thecylinder. and the right hand ports 11a are open to exhaust.

. In this position live steam can enter the left sages 11. At the bottomof the cylinder well there are similar-chambers 16 which communicatewith the interior of the c linder through the slots 16a formed in theottom.

of the bushings 8a of the cylinders. A pipe 17 connects each chamberwith a chamber 16, and by. means of the connections 17 a and 176' it ispossible to remove this connection.

-The chambers 15 and 16 and the connecting pipes constitute auxiliarysteam passages'for which the slots 15a are the intake ports and theslots 16a the delivery ports. The slots 15a and 160 have their greatestdimension transversely of the valve chest and the cylinder,respectively, and they are ofsubstantial area whereby steam may bedelivered to the J cylinder in quantities sufiicient to make thearrangement efi'ective for starting. r

I As the piston continues to move toward the right, the valve also willmove to the right as shown in Fig. 2. covering the left hand ports 11a,the cut-off being, as shown, at substantially of the piston stroke.

hand port 15a and will flow through the respective chamber 15, pipe 17chamber 16,

and port 16a into the cylinder, iving the necessary power for starting,should the locomotive have stopped in this position.

The stroke then continuesas illustrated in Fig. 3, where the piston isshown at approximately 70% of its stroke, at which time the lefthandports 11a are closed, as are the ports 15a, the right hand ports 11abeing still open to exhaust. Preadmission and wastage ca-nnot occur. I p

In Fig. 4 the valve has just closed the right hand .ports 11a, i. e.,the piston and valve are at the point of compression. Both the auxiliaryports 15a are covered by the valve and the left hand ports 11a arecovered.

As the piston continues on the compression ortion of the stroke, theleft hand ports 11a egin to open to exhaust when the valveis almost online withthe right hand auxiliary .port 15a, just about, ready touncover the same to steam, as shown in Fig. 5. In the position shown inFig. 5, the right hand ports 11a and 1511 are still'closed and the lefthand port 15a is still covered. Preadmission and wastage cannot occur,

On the final portion of the stroke theright hand port 15a is uncovered,but the corresponding right hand port ltia is still covered bythe widelower portion of the'piston and will remain so covered when the pistonis at the end of its stroke, and the left hand port wrongjdirection and.can bestarted any position of the reverse lever.

By locating the ports 16a in the bottom of the cylinders, these portsare effectively coveredby the piston. Advantage is taken of the factthat the piston rests on the cylinder at the bottom, and, thus, when thepiston is covering either one of the ports, the weight of thepiston isavailed of for securing effective closure. Similarly, the location ofthe ports 16a in the bottom takes advantage of the fact that the pistonsare usually made of extra width at the bottom, in consequence of whichthe ports are closed for a'longer interval of time, making it possibleto apply the auxiliary starting ports for'very short maximum limitedcutoffs without danger of either preadmission or wastage of steam. Infact, the disposition of parts as shown will take care of a widevariation in range of maximum limited cut-ofl's. The particular cut-offillustrated is merely typical.

The location of the orts 15a at the side also minimizes the ten ency tofouling and the provision of the chambers 15 and 16 makes it very easyto clean the ports 15a and theports 16a, to which end I provide cleanoutplugs 18 and 19 for the chambers '15 and 16. It will be obvious that bythis arrangement it is possible to clean the ports without disturbingany of the engine parts.

With the provision of what is, in efl'ect, an outside auxiliary steamassage, I can very readily connect the oil line to the pipe 17, inconsequence of which oil will be fed to the cylinders for a longerperiod of time when drifting. This may be done as roughly indicatedinFig. 6 at 20.

Itwill be seen that the use of the cavities 15 and 16 not only makes itpossible to clean In this connection it will be seen that were' a simplehole to be drilled through the wall of either the valve chest or thecylinder, it

would be practically impossible to line up.

such hole with the corresponding passage through the valve chest bushingor the cylinder bushing when arebushing operation becomes necessary.Furthermore, the cavities 15 and 16 may be formed in the valve chest orcylinder bodies as shown in Figs. 1 to 6, or they may be formed as.recesses or cavitie s-15"; and 16in the valve chest or cylinder bushings7a and 8a, as illustrated in Figs. 7

and 8. In this event, it would be necessary simply to tap-openings 20and 21 in the valve chest and cylinder walls into which T fittings 22and 23 could be screwed having removable clean-out plugs 24 and 25. Thepipe 17 with its connections 17a and 17 b would be coupled to the otheroutlets 26 and 27 of the Ts.

I claim 1. In a steam engine, the combination of acylinder, a pistontherein resting on the bottom. a valve chamber, a valve, main portconnections between chamber and cylinder, and auxiliary ports of latercut off leading from the chamber to approximately the bottom of thecylinder and governed jointly by the valve and the piston.

2. In a steam engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston thereinresting on the bottom, a valve chamber, a valve, main port connectionsbetween chamber and cylinder, and auxiliary ports of later cut offleading from the chamber from a point in a side portion of the wall ofthe chamber to approximately the bottom of the cylinder, and gov- 5erned jointly by the valve and the piston.

13. In a steam engine, the combination of a cylinder, a piston having awidened bottom portion resting on the cylinder, a valve chamber, avalve, main port connections between chamber and cylinder, and anauxiliary port connection of later cut oil leading from the chamber tothe c linder at a point in the ath of movement 0 the widened portion 0the piston. In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name.

HUBERT J. TITU S.

